Court breather for Posco

OUR BUREAU

Yoon: Relieved New Delhi, May 10: Posco —which has been fretting for eight years over approvals for its 12-million-tonne integrated steel plant in Odisha — received a big boost on Friday after the Supreme Court asked the government to decide on the South Korean steel maker's application for preferential access to iron ore. The world's fourth-largest steel producer has doggedly pursued clearances from a variety of authorities for land and an iron ore mining licence to start work on the $12-billion project, which has been billed as India's largest foreign direct investment. Setting aside an Odisha high court order against Posco getting an iron ore licence in Khandahar hills, the apex court asked the Centre to consider all the objections raised by various parties pertaining to the steel plant and take a decision. Top steel ministry officials said, "We have decided not to pursue rival claims by either public firms and there should be no major obstacle left for Posco. In fact this government is very keen that such a large investment project should be hastened. It is an embarrassment for India that we have not been able to proceed on this project till now." The Centre is expected to give a prospecting licence to Posco in the weeks ahead, said officials. "We welcome the judgment by the honourable Supreme Court on Khandadhar mining case. Once we receive the copy of the full judgment, we will be in a better position to comment upon," Posco-India chairman and managing director Y.W. Yoon said in a statement. "However, we believe that this will significantly help to expedite the project. We are happy that it has come at a time when there has been significant progress on the land clearance work for the project," he said. In the apex court today, a bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha quashed an Odisha high court ruling against Posco and in favour of local firm Geomin, which had contended that the lease had been offered to it long back. Geomin argued that it had sought prospective and mining licences in 1991, and as such had preferential right for consideration for award of any licence. However, the Odisha government had chosen to grant the licence to Posco, which applied for it in 2005. Posco had earlier received permission to export 30 per cent of the iron ore from Odisha to Korea in exchange for lower grade ore. The Korean company's proprietary Finex technology uses a mix of high- and low-grade iron ore, which necessitates the swapping of ore. However, critics have long held that the deal was meant to give raw material security to the Korean mother plant. India's high grade iron ore reserves have attracted several key global players. Arcelor Mittal is keen to set up two big plants in the country based on mineral concessions. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130511/jsp/business/story_16885071.jsp